Japan’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that both Russia and China had recently deployed aircraft and vessels capable of collecting intelligence near the island nation.
Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Russian defense and foreign ministries for comment.
Why It Matters
Russia and China, which have formed a so-called partnership without limits, have regularly dispatched forces to waters and airspace around Japanese territory, signaling their military presence and strength against the United States and its treaty ally.
The deployments of Russian and Chinese forces come as Japan enhances its military capabilities, including the fielding of stealth jets and aircraft carriers, amid what it has described as the “most severe and complex” security environment of the postwar era.
What To Know
The Joint Staff Office of Japan’s Defense Ministry reported that a Russian spy ship, identified by its hull number as the Kareliya, reached the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, from the East China Sea via the Tsushima Strait from Sunday to Monday.
The strait—which lies between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago—is one of the maritime areas Japan has designated as international waterways, where its territorial waters are limited under the standard 13.8 miles to maintain high seas corridors.
According to a map provided by Japan’s Joint Staff Office, the Kareliya first arrived in the East China Sea on January 7, when it passed through the Tsushima Strait. The ship then operated around Japan’s southwestern outlying islands between January 12 and 24.
As the Kareliya sailed toward Russia’s Far East, a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Sea of Okhotsk north of Hokkaido, one of Japan’s four main islands, after departing from somewhere on the Russian mainland west of Hokkaido on Monday.
After reaching the Pacific Ocean east of Hokkaido, the Russian aircraft flew south until it reached waters off the coast of northern Honshu, Japan’s largest main island, where the U.S. is set to upgrade Misawa Air Base by deploying 48 F-35A stealth fighter jets.
While Japan’s Joint Staff Office illustrated in a map that the Russian aircraft transited the country’s airspace over a smaller island group northeast of Hokkaido, the islands have been under Russian administration since 1945, following their seizure from Japan.
Also on Saturday, a Chinese intelligence collection ship, identified by its hull number as CNS Beijixing, transited the Miyako Strait between Okinawa and the Miyako Islands in Japan’s southwestern waters and reached the Philippine Sea from the East China Sea.
During the aforementioned encounters with Russian and Chinese forces, both Japan’s Air and Maritime Self-Defense Forces deployed aircraft and vessels to monitor them.
“Given the characteristics of the [Russian and Chinese] ships and aircraft involved in these activities, it is conceivable that these operations are intended for some form of intelligence gathering,” Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi wrote on social media on Monday.
The minister stressed that Japan would continue to maintain what he described as “the utmost vigilance” in monitoring and surveillance, with a strong focus on the activities of the Chinese and Russian militaries in the sea and airspace surrounding the country.
What People Are Saying
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi wrote on X, originally in Japanese: “The Chinese and Russian militaries have continued to engage in active operations in the sea and airspace surrounding our country since the beginning of this year, utilizing intelligence-gathering ships and aircraft, among other assets.”
Japan’s 2025 defense white paper said: “The Russian military is continuing active military activities in the vicinity of Japan and its surrounding areas, showing its tendency to deploy the latest military equipment in the Far East. Russia’s military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan, coupled with its strategic partnership with China, are posing a strong security concern.”
What Happens Next
Russia and China are expected to continue military activities around Japan as the U.S. and its ally recently agreed to bolster their force presence across the western Pacific.
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